Suspect arrested for series of kidnap attempts

Police have arrested a man suspected of a series of attempted kidnappings of at least three teenage girls in Hayward over the past two months, police said today.

There were three attempted kidnappings of girls between 14 and 16 years old on Friday afternoons between Feb. 20 and March 27 by a man in a white four-door car, according to police.

On Feb. 20, the man grabbed a 14-year-old girl as she walked home from Tennyson High School on Joshua Street. The girl fought the man off and escaped, police said.

On March 6, a 15-year-old girl also walking from Tennyson High School on Whitman Street was forced into the back seat of the car but she also managed to escape.

Then on March 27, a 16-year-old walking from Hayward High School was pushed into the back seat of a car near Walpert Street and Fletcher Lane. The man brandished a gun but the girl escaped without injury, police said.

Hayward police said more details about the suspect will be released later today at a 2 p.m. news conference.